first pomegranates

I planted the pomegranate tree in August of last year. It grew very slowly the first year and didn't produce a single mature fruit. This year, though, the tree looks much better. There are about 10 small pomegranate fruits. We noticed two had burst open today. The little arils (the tiny seeds with red fleshy covering) were perfectly sweet and juicy. I was curious to see if one of the other fruits was ripe inside so I cut one of the other fruits in half. The arils were a little pale and not as sweet as the ripe ones. We are still learning....

Ripe deep-red arils above with an almost ripe pomegranate fruit below.

This one was almost ripe. The flesh of the tightly packed arils is translucent. You can almost see the little seeds inside.

slow joys

We've been having unusual weather for the past few days - gentle misty rain. I've been thrilled since I planted carrots and winter squash eleven days ago and I have barely needed to water. I've been pondering this adventure of gardening. The produce has been great - tomatoes, beans, squash, guava, figs, peppers, grape leaves, a few grapes, etc., but nothing has been very fast. This is definitely not an endeavor for someone in a hurry. Still, I am happy to be doing this. I am learning much and have been developing a deep appreciation for real farmers.

The carrots are sprouting today even more than yesterday. About 20 new plants have popped up. 

 

New leaflets.

 The grape vines have been doing well on the arbor. It all looks a little shaggy now. I'd like to prune soon, but I am waiting until leaf-fall so the plants will have time to transfer stored nutrients into the vines.

 

The strawberry guava bush has been a steady producer lately - about one or two  small strawberry guavas per day. 

 

The satsuma mandarin looks good too. We had an infestation of leaf-miners, but after plucking off countless little larvae by hand over the past few weeks, the tree seems to be recovering.

hornworms!

We had a major invasion by these interesting little critters. Though they have been voraciously chomping on the leaves of the tomato plants, these insects are technically called Tobacco hornworms (Manduca sexta). They are distinguished from their Tomato hornworm cousins by their seven diagonal stripes. Interestingly, these aren't technically worms; these insects are leaf-munching caterpillars of a moth that feeds on plant nectar.

 

Here's one hanging upside down along a tomato branch. Notice the seven stripes and the tiny dots at the top of the stripes. These dots are "spiracles" - little breathing holes for respiration. 

 Here is a branch of one of our tomato plants. It has been stripped almost completely clean by the little buggers.

 This little caterpillar is hanging upside down, probably pondering what to eat next. Notice the horn on the upper right.

 This is the feces of these tobacco hornworm. A few times I've been looking for the little caterpillar, but only seen chewed leaves and these characteristically shaped poops.

This one is grasping a leaf by its thoracic legs and chewing away. When you look carefully in real life, you can see the mouthparts are arranged vertically to allow for easier leaf-munching. 

More poop.

squash and carrots starting to sprout

I planted carrots and winter squash ten days ago. We've had some rain and the first sprouts are appearing.

The squash are starting to push through the soil.

 

The two leaflets mark squash as a dicot - a plant having two embryonic "first leaves." 

 

This one still has a few specks of dirt from its push through the soil.

 

Notice the cotyledons still trapped by the seed coat. I had to smile since it looks like this plant is wearing a little safety helmet. Within a few days, the true leaves should be visible. 

The carrots are also just starting to peek forth from the soil.

 

Carrots are also dicots. The two cotyledons are just barely visible. These look quite distinct from the true leaves that will appear in a few days. 

 

This one is so small and pale that you also can't see it. It gives me hope, though, for carrots to come. 

tiny Washington navel oranges

The flowers on the Washington navel have dropped off and the little oranges have just become visible. 

 

In the first photo, you can see the pistils still attached to the fruit.

 

Here you can see the small scar where the pistil has fallen off. 

Washington Navel Orange is flowering

The Washington Navel Orange is flowering. 

The flowers are radially symmetric, have five thick petals, and multiple stamens surrounding the pistil.

Here you can see most of the stamens have fallen off and a tiny fruit is starting out at the base of the pistil. The petals have already fallen off.

The figs are ripe!

The figs are starting to ripen. Today we picked and ate four. The best fig had ripened enough so it had just started to burst open. It was sweet and the texture was fantastic - just a hint of crunch as you chew through the tiny seeds.